Go back to your village in Jack compound, Kambwili tells Lungu

NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili yesterday charged that President Edgar Lungu should go back to his ‘village’ in Jack compound if he has failed to govern the country.

The former Roan PF member of parliament, who is irked by the government’s decision to roll out Chinese language in schools next year and the returning of deputy ministers, wondered where God had picked the Head of State from to come and cause Zambians misfortune.

“Ba Lungu amano nganayapwa go back to your village ku Jack compound. Go and rest and leave the country to those who are thinking. You are failing to pay teachers on time, failing to pay council workers, National Housing [Authority], RDA, RTSA, salaries for grant-aided institutions, University of Zambia, you want to go and bring deputy ministers, for what? This government has run for three years without deputy ministers and nobody has complained that government is not running,” Kambwili said.

He questioned the relevance of returning deputy ministers when miners on the Copperbelt Province risked losing employment.

“Today, the Copperbelt is threatened with loss of employment and all you can think of is to bring deputy ministers? You were aware of the problems at KCM [Konkola Copper Mines] until I went to Chingola, addressed the press, now you are running like rats. Tamwaishibe ati [You didn’t know] there were these problems until I went and spoke about it? Anyway that’s why I say ‘when I run, when I talk, Lungu alatulumuka’ [trembles]. But all I can tell you is that go and sort out the problems of miners on the Copperbelt. The issue of deputy ministers and bringing Chinese to come and do ‘wangiang, nyingyo, nyunghi’!” he said.

Kambwili wondered why the government was so eager to create jobs for Chinese nationals by introducing their language in Zambian secondary schools when unemployed Zambian teachers have flooded the streets.

“When you fail to run a country, the best thing you can do is to resign. We have so many problems in this country. Of all the problems that we have – of expensive mealie-meal, people cannot afford to have three meals – all you think of is to go and introduce Chinese in schools, then you can know that you have no leadership. Do you know what it implies to bring Chinese? There are so many in their country that some of them sleep in manholes. So they want where to rush to. They want other countries to create employment. Instead of us creating employment for our own people by introducing Lozi on the Copperbelt so that some Lozis can come and teach Lozi on the Copperbelt, you want to create employment for Chinese,” he said.

Kambwili further expressed concern regarding the manner in which police on Sunday attempted to prevent UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema from attending mass at St Joseph’s Catholic Church on grounds that he had no permit to attend the service.

“How can you get permission to go to church? Very soon they [Zambia Police] will say ‘to go to the toilet, you have to get a police permit’,” Kambwili said.

The NDC leader was speaking to journalists at the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court after magistrate Betty Malupenga on behalf of principal resident magistrate David Simusamba adjourned the matter in which he is accused of forgery and uttering false documents to May 27.